1. The Field of the Present Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of onboard navigational instrumentation. More specifically the present invention relates to an apparatus and methods for accurately establishing the vector of velocity of an object in motion from the information provided within and directly by the motion of the object itself and which is relative to initial spatial parameters of the object.
2. General Background
For the purposes of this application, the terms “electromagnetic media”, “non-inertial media”, “light”, “beam of light”, “pulse of light”, “luminous flux” or equivalent terminology are meant to be synonymous unless otherwise stated. Likewise, the terms “instruments”, “devices”, “apparatus” or equivalent terminology are meant to be interchangeable unless otherwise stated. Similarly, the terms “body”, “object”, “inertial frame”, or equivalent terminology are meant to be synonymous unless otherwise stated. References made in the English measurement system are hereafter assumed to include their metric equivalent values and vice versa.
Various-methods and apparatus are know for measuring the speed of objects in motion. They all function on the basis of one or the other of two well-established methods:
(1) measuring object speed by comparing its motion against other object (e.g., reading the speed of a car by measuring its motion relative to the Earth surface. (2) measuring object speed by integrating its measured acceleration (i.e., speed as the integral of acceleration).
These methods have limitations: the needs for continuous outside referencing, lack of accuracy and consistency, and most of all inability to vectorize motion i.e. provide simultaneous information on speed and direction of travel from direct onboard readings of an individual instrument.
Corpuscular-wave nature of light and its independence from inertial frames of references because of photon zero mass and zero electric charge are well known in classic and quantum electrodynamics. The zero-mass photon provides the basis for the navigational instrument of this invention.
Michelson and Gale in 1925 experimented to measure the speed of Earth rotation by means of counter-rotating light beams channeled within vacuum tubes disposed in a large rectangle planar array corresponding to East-West and North-South axes. Developments in optics and laser technologies in the 1970s allow for significant improvement of Michelson-Gale experiment and development of Canterbury Ring Laser which opened the way to development of whole new family of navigational instruments, functionality of which based on Ring Laser Gyro (RLG) effects. RLG brought great improvements to space navigation, but the main problems and shortcomings of the gyro based navigational technology continue to hinder abilities to successfully navigate in 2-dimensional 3-dimensional space.
Advances in photonics open the way for development of a new class of navigational devices called “Velometers”. Velometer utilizes the measurements of displacement of inertial frame a body or an object in relation to independent and straight-line propagation of light in vacuum within the same inertial frame. The ability to measure displacement of an object in relation to independent straight-line propagation of light provides information on velocity i.e. speed and direction of travel of the object from within the object in motion itself. One caveat must be taken into account: there is no absolute rest in nature, the Velometer provides velocity measurements in relative terms i.e. measurements that null or discount the object's initial position and velocity in space.